Locomotive Roster: Minitrix 12560; DB BR 701

Another review of a part of my fleet that has received scant attention.  This is a review of the Minitrix 12560 Duetsche Bundesbahn BR 701!

As form generally follows function for most of our train-related interests (regardless of country of origin) it seemed obvious that this little railcar was a cantenary maintenance vehicle, and that its similarity to the DB's VT 98 'rail bus' was not coincidental as it was based on that model. 

It is however one of those locomotives with a pantograph that you can run without wires overhead as it is powered by two diesel motors! So the Prototype Police can't get me on this one! 

I also discovered (thanks to Wikipedia) is that there appears to be a comfortable area for crews to relax and clean up inside the locomotive (which makes sense since there is clearly no need for passenger seating!).

The max speed of the prototype is 90 kmh, or about 55 mph.  So not a high speed train by any means, and the model also reflects this same desire at keeping its speed to a low limit.

The model itself is a limited addition that was produced by Minitrix as a limited edition in 2009 or 2010.  I've actually had it for a couple of years.  It runs well, looks good (except for the damage to the running boards on the top - painfully evident to me in every photo!) but I tend to prefer to run longer trains when I'm running stuff, so this little maintenance loco gets very little action (as well it should, since I have zero cantenary on Quinntopia --- just what exactly do these folks think is going on!).

I have to admit I do love the nice, wooden box it came in, but I also suspect that the rather tight packaging may have something to do with the damage to the running boards along the roof.  I take full responsibility that it was likely my own clumsiness that may have forced the loco in the wrong way at one point, creating the damage, as I'm certain I did not receive it this way.

In operation, it runs as you expect any locomotive with only two axles to receive track current;  which is to say, make sure your track is clean!  Its a nice smooth runner, but the lack of activity this locomotive gets did require me to do a bit of 'running in' to get it to operate smoothly again.  In general, typical smooth running Minitrix motors.   Details are quite nice.  I go into more detail in my video, but its really a great looking locomotive as I hope these photos illustrate.

A colorful and interesting looking addition to the fleet, but one which I clearly need to figure out a good plan to fix the running boards and take better care in packing away in the future!  Well, the one thing you can always be sure of here in Quinntopia is that we are quite transparent about our mistakes and failures! 

That's it for this one, more reviews on the way (I hope)!  As always, thanks for reading and for the amazing patience and tenacity of those brave enough to take on the 'capcha' challenge and write a comment!